Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) Stock Price Up 5.2% – Still a Buy?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) shot up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $34.90 and last traded at $34.7320. 367,495 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 1,008,932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WERN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Werner Enterprises in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Werner Enterprises from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Werner Enterprises from $20.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Werner Enterprises from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $30.57.

Werner Enterprises Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.07.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.18). Werner Enterprises had a net margin of 0.85% and a return on equity of 0.14%. The firm had revenue of $712.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $763.63 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Werner Enterprises, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Werner Enterprises Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 5th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. Werner Enterprises’s payout ratio is 136.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Werner Enterprises in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 57.8% during the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 289.5% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,293 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Werner Enterprises by 306.9% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,294 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Werner Enterprises by 413.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.32% of the company’s stock.

Werner Enterprises Company Profile

Werner Enterprises, Inc, founded in 1956 by Clarence L. “Chris” Werner, is a leading transportation and logistics provider based in Omaha, Nebraska. The company began as a one‐truck operation and has since grown into one of North America’s largest carriers, offering an array of services to support diverse supply chains.

Werner’s core business activities include full truckload dry van services, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal transport and brokerage solutions. The company also provides value-added services such as warehousing, freight management and fleet maintenance through its network of terminals and service centers.